Sam never spends more than a minute, if that long, playing with a toy. He is too busy crawling/cruising and in general just moving around. Tonight he was playing with a ring stacker toy and he was really trying hard to get the orange ring onto the pole. He spent about 2 minutes working on it with the ring in his right hand. Eventually he grabbed onto it with his other hand so that he was holding it in both hands. Once he did that he got it on the pole in just a few seconds. I clapped and cheered for him and he looked up at me and beamed. He didn't know I had been watching him and he was so proud of himself for getting it to work.
He proceeded to sit there and take the orange ring off and put it back on for 3 or 4 more minutes; each time looking up and grinning when he did it waiting for us to cheer for him. At one point after putting the ring on he lifted the entire toy in the air and started turning around in circles. It was hilarious - he was holding up his trophy and rotating around with it.
We kept trying to get him to put a different colored ring on but he wouldn't do it - he was sticking with orange. He ended up sitting and playing with that toy for the last 10-12 minutes before time for bed.
T-ball
Friday, June 29, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
He loves himself and a new trick or two
Yesterday Sam was standing at the coffee table and he picked up the mirror and started talking to himself. Every little bit he would give himself kisses. He was really chatting away using sounds I haven't really heard much.
He crawled onto the landing to get a ball that I threw up there for him yesterday afternoon. I told him not to climb the stairs so he decided to get back down. Instead of crawling down like he always has he scooted to the edge, put his feet on the ground, stood up and took 2-3 steps. After that he was hooked; he just kept getting up there and scooting off into standing and taking a couple of steps.
Sam has been putting toys into containers more frequently and will even do it on demand some of the time now. I was sitting in the floor playing with both of them and we were singing songs and doing hand motions. At one point Sam grabbed my hand, turned it over and put the toy he was holding into it. I was impressed.
He crawled onto the landing to get a ball that I threw up there for him yesterday afternoon. I told him not to climb the stairs so he decided to get back down. Instead of crawling down like he always has he scooted to the edge, put his feet on the ground, stood up and took 2-3 steps. After that he was hooked; he just kept getting up there and scooting off into standing and taking a couple of steps.
Sam has been putting toys into containers more frequently and will even do it on demand some of the time now. I was sitting in the floor playing with both of them and we were singing songs and doing hand motions. At one point Sam grabbed my hand, turned it over and put the toy he was holding into it. I was impressed.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Standing up
During Megan's PT session yesterday Mandy asked me if Sam had been standing up without holding onto anything from a seated position. I told her I hadn't tried it, so today I tried it. I sat Sam on my leg and told him to stand up. The first couple of times he bounced a couple of times and then stood up. Eventually he would just stand up. What is great is once he is standing he always takes a couple of steps, even if there is nothing in front of him.
He seems to be more stable in his steps from this position as opposed to when he uses our hands to stand up and then we have him let go. Of course there are times when he is in such a hurry that when he stands up and takes off he falls, but that is just Sam; moving too fast is something he does a lot.
He seems to be more stable in his steps from this position as opposed to when he uses our hands to stand up and then we have him let go. Of course there are times when he is in such a hurry that when he stands up and takes off he falls, but that is just Sam; moving too fast is something he does a lot.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Steps, Steps and more Steps
Sam took 5 steps today to get to me. He has consistently been taking 2-3 steps but 5 is a new record. We have discovered that he does so much better walking if he are sitting on the couch or a chair or something. He will take as many steps as needed to get to us and then lean out with his hands. If we are sitting on the floor he still just dives at us 95% of the time.
Play time and figuring out car cheerios
Someone gave Sam a Melissa & Doug ABC puzzle for his birthday. There are no knobs on the pieces but they each stick up just enough that he can flip them out of the holes with his finger. He loves this puzzle. He will sit or stand and play with it until he has removed every single letter. Then he will grab the letter "g" and take it with him all over the house.
Sam has a "get me" position. If he is playing with me or Will or Megan and he is running away from us eventually he will lay flat on his tummy and start doing a frog kick all while smiling as big as possible. He lays there waiting for the person to get him. He does this all the time, anytime he thinks someone is chasing him or when someone actually is. He loves to play chase with Megan and will watch over his shoulder to see if she is coming. Once she is after him it doesn't take him long to get into position so she can squish him.
We taught Sam how to put buckets on his head a long time ago and he is constantly doing it. He will empty out containers so he can put them on his head (he learned to empty them after dumping items on his head a few times). Lately he will put a bucket/pail/container on his head and then take off crawling. Crazy kid - he can't see where he is going and bonks into stuff and then laughs about it. Will said he thinks they are helmets - I think maybe we need to get him one.
Last night after dinner we put the kids in the chairs on the front sidewalk while Will & I worked on assembling a new shade tent we bought this weekend. After a couple of minutes Sam got out of his chair and started crawling in circles in the grass and then he crawled over to us. I guess crossing the playground for cheerios made him realize he shouldn't be afraid of grass either.
The kids have almost identical car seats except that Megan's is a different color and a year older model wise; but they both have cup holders built into them. We have been using Megan's cup holder to give her cheerios on road trips and when out running errands for a long time. I have been trying to get Sam to eat cheerios out of his cup holder as well but he just couldn't figure it out; that is until last Friday. Sam finally managed to grab a cheerio and get it into his mouth and there has been no going back since. He will even make his "I am hungry" noise when his cup holder is empty and he needs a refill. Such a cute sound to have two little crunchers in the car now - and so much easier for me to get him his snack.
Sam has a "get me" position. If he is playing with me or Will or Megan and he is running away from us eventually he will lay flat on his tummy and start doing a frog kick all while smiling as big as possible. He lays there waiting for the person to get him. He does this all the time, anytime he thinks someone is chasing him or when someone actually is. He loves to play chase with Megan and will watch over his shoulder to see if she is coming. Once she is after him it doesn't take him long to get into position so she can squish him.
We taught Sam how to put buckets on his head a long time ago and he is constantly doing it. He will empty out containers so he can put them on his head (he learned to empty them after dumping items on his head a few times). Lately he will put a bucket/pail/container on his head and then take off crawling. Crazy kid - he can't see where he is going and bonks into stuff and then laughs about it. Will said he thinks they are helmets - I think maybe we need to get him one.
Last night after dinner we put the kids in the chairs on the front sidewalk while Will & I worked on assembling a new shade tent we bought this weekend. After a couple of minutes Sam got out of his chair and started crawling in circles in the grass and then he crawled over to us. I guess crossing the playground for cheerios made him realize he shouldn't be afraid of grass either.
The kids have almost identical car seats except that Megan's is a different color and a year older model wise; but they both have cup holders built into them. We have been using Megan's cup holder to give her cheerios on road trips and when out running errands for a long time. I have been trying to get Sam to eat cheerios out of his cup holder as well but he just couldn't figure it out; that is until last Friday. Sam finally managed to grab a cheerio and get it into his mouth and there has been no going back since. He will even make his "I am hungry" noise when his cup holder is empty and he needs a refill. Such a cute sound to have two little crunchers in the car now - and so much easier for me to get him his snack.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
What a boy wouldn't do for some cheerios
Sam isn't fond of sitting in/on, crawling on or standing on different textures. He is fine with indoor textures but doesn't like grass, playground materials, etc. This morning after breakfast we went to check out a new park that Will found. The playground has a dinosaur slide and some really great equipment for when the kids get a little older. After swinging for a minute I took Sam over to the dino slide and let him crawl on the plastic steps.
For the longest time he wouldn't climb the stairs because he was too busy cleaning them off. They had fake mortar lines and there was the ground material from the playground in them. He was picking pieces up with his fingers and throwing them on the ground. Eventually he climbed up the stairs for me. I put him on the ground at the base of the slide - it was a rubberized surface and he went over to the edge of it to play with the mulch material. I walked over to Megan and Will and grabbed the cheerios and showed them to Sam. I didn't expect him to come to me - I figured he would sit there and clap and wave his arms waiting for me to come to him. I gave several cheerios to Will for Megan and turned to go get Sam and that boy was on his way to me. He was really moving. I couldn't believe it.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Busy couple of days
This afternoon after nap we headed to Restore to drop off some items and decided to go in and look around for a little while too. By the time we were back in the truck it was 5:47 and so we decided to go to Applebee's for dinner. This was the first time the 4 of us have eaten out since Sam has been eating regular food.
Both Sam and Megan did amazing waiting for the food to arrive. I was putting cheerios in front of Sam one at a time and he would snatch them off of the table and eat them. I was taking my time replacing them because I didn't want him to eat too many and when he would see my hand going to pick one up he would get so excited. One time Will reached across the table and grabbed the cheerio before Sam could get it. He just looked at him and then when Will moved his hand Sam grabbed it and put his hand in his lap.
The kids menu was pretty lousy so I ordered something off of the regular menu for the kids to share. I decided on Chicken Fettuccine Carbonara which had mushrooms, red peppers, peas, bacon, grape tomatoes and onions in it. Let's just say that I picked good. Sam was so stinking happy with every bite. He even drank his milk from the cup and straw that they brought to the table. Such a big boy.
Earlier today we checked out a new park. It was snack time so I put a blanket down and the four of us sat down. After snack Will took Megan to the swings and I stayed on the blanket with Sam because he was having so much fun crawling around. He would crawl to the edge of the blanket and play with the dirt, rocks and twigs on the ground. He wouldn't leave the blanket though - he just kept going all of it and right up to the edge; that is until Will came back from the bathroom. Sam crawled off the blanket by about 2 feet to get to Will.
On Thursday Sam played in the sand for the first time. I met a friend and her kids at a park and after swinging for a little bit I put the kids in the sand box and got out the toys. He wasn't interested in the toys but just wanted to pick up the sand and squish it. He sat there and let me bury his legs in the sand. I stood up and took one picture and it started raining. Sam was wearing a hat so he had no idea it was raining and was a tad unhappy when I had to yank him up and take off for the shelter.
On Friday I gave Sam his first haircut. He has been needing this for a few months and I finally couldn't take it anymore. I had been waiting on the planets to align so that he was in the right mood and Will was here to take photos, etc etc; but I finally just had to do it. So there are no photos of him getting it. I cut about 2 inches off the back of his hair. He did pretty good - he just didn't want to face away from me so he kept turning his head a lot.
Both Sam and Megan did amazing waiting for the food to arrive. I was putting cheerios in front of Sam one at a time and he would snatch them off of the table and eat them. I was taking my time replacing them because I didn't want him to eat too many and when he would see my hand going to pick one up he would get so excited. One time Will reached across the table and grabbed the cheerio before Sam could get it. He just looked at him and then when Will moved his hand Sam grabbed it and put his hand in his lap.
The kids menu was pretty lousy so I ordered something off of the regular menu for the kids to share. I decided on Chicken Fettuccine Carbonara which had mushrooms, red peppers, peas, bacon, grape tomatoes and onions in it. Let's just say that I picked good. Sam was so stinking happy with every bite. He even drank his milk from the cup and straw that they brought to the table. Such a big boy.
Earlier today we checked out a new park. It was snack time so I put a blanket down and the four of us sat down. After snack Will took Megan to the swings and I stayed on the blanket with Sam because he was having so much fun crawling around. He would crawl to the edge of the blanket and play with the dirt, rocks and twigs on the ground. He wouldn't leave the blanket though - he just kept going all of it and right up to the edge; that is until Will came back from the bathroom. Sam crawled off the blanket by about 2 feet to get to Will.
On Thursday Sam played in the sand for the first time. I met a friend and her kids at a park and after swinging for a little bit I put the kids in the sand box and got out the toys. He wasn't interested in the toys but just wanted to pick up the sand and squish it. He sat there and let me bury his legs in the sand. I stood up and took one picture and it started raining. Sam was wearing a hat so he had no idea it was raining and was a tad unhappy when I had to yank him up and take off for the shelter.
On Friday I gave Sam his first haircut. He has been needing this for a few months and I finally couldn't take it anymore. I had been waiting on the planets to align so that he was in the right mood and Will was here to take photos, etc etc; but I finally just had to do it. So there are no photos of him getting it. I cut about 2 inches off the back of his hair. He did pretty good - he just didn't want to face away from me so he kept turning his head a lot.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Teeth & food
Sam's bottom two molars have now broken through just the tiniest bit. So now all 4 molars have made it through a little bit. I noticed when I was checking on his teeth last night that his top canine teeth are almost through, if you put pressure on the gum you can feel them. I can't believe he is cutting them all at the same time.
Sam has been doing so much better feeding himself. He still tries to stuff too much food in at a time but is getting better about slowing down with verbal commands. He has mastered his new straw sippy cup too. He can pick it up, drink and put it back down. Unless he is really hungry he will drink until you tell him to stop, but again he is getting better about this as well. He is also getting better about not bursting into tears when a meal is over. Most of the time he will still start to cry but he can calm down immediately when we tell him that he is okay. I decided to see if he has figured out when he is full yet and let him eat more than I thought he should before I cut him off. He still cried when I made him stop and then he spit up everywhere which means he ate too much. I am not sure how you teach a kid this, or if I even can; but we will keep trying.
Sam has been doing so much better feeding himself. He still tries to stuff too much food in at a time but is getting better about slowing down with verbal commands. He has mastered his new straw sippy cup too. He can pick it up, drink and put it back down. Unless he is really hungry he will drink until you tell him to stop, but again he is getting better about this as well. He is also getting better about not bursting into tears when a meal is over. Most of the time he will still start to cry but he can calm down immediately when we tell him that he is okay. I decided to see if he has figured out when he is full yet and let him eat more than I thought he should before I cut him off. He still cried when I made him stop and then he spit up everywhere which means he ate too much. I am not sure how you teach a kid this, or if I even can; but we will keep trying.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Spray pool and lunch
We put Sam in the spray pool for the first time today. He was okay sitting in the pool but didn't like it when we turned the spray on and it got his head/face wet. We had to turn it off and calm him down to get him to stay in the pool. After the spray incident he wouldn't do anything but just sit in the water and look at us. It wasn't until Megan got in that he started playing again.
Sam has been eating 3/4 of a sandwich for lunch every day for a couple of weeks. Since he doesn't have a full switch it is difficult for me to know when to increase his food. I decided today to go ahead and make him a whole sandwich and he ate every bite and his fruit and he didn't spit it up. He was still unhappy when I took his bib off of him but I said "Sam you just had a whole sandwich you're okay" and he quit fussing. I can't believe he is eating that much - I said to Will "what on earth is he going to want to eat when he is 3?".
Sam has been eating 3/4 of a sandwich for lunch every day for a couple of weeks. Since he doesn't have a full switch it is difficult for me to know when to increase his food. I decided today to go ahead and make him a whole sandwich and he ate every bite and his fruit and he didn't spit it up. He was still unhappy when I took his bib off of him but I said "Sam you just had a whole sandwich you're okay" and he quit fussing. I can't believe he is eating that much - I said to Will "what on earth is he going to want to eat when he is 3?".
Friday, June 8, 2012
1st Step - and more
Sam took his first step this afternoon. I picked him up and celebrated with him and then had him try again. He immediately took another step toward me and during his second step he reached out and grabbed me - so almost two steps.
We clapped and I cheered for him and he was so excited. I turned the video camera on and tried to get a repeat performance but he was so excited he just kept jumping all over the place and I didn't quite get another step out of him.
Will & I will try again tonight to see if we can get him going. I think he is ready to take off once he figures it out.
So Sam took several steps tonight. He took 1-3 steps several times before lunging/diving at us. He worked so hard he wore himself out and went to bed a little early tonight.
We clapped and I cheered for him and he was so excited. I turned the video camera on and tried to get a repeat performance but he was so excited he just kept jumping all over the place and I didn't quite get another step out of him.
Will & I will try again tonight to see if we can get him going. I think he is ready to take off once he figures it out.
So Sam took several steps tonight. He took 1-3 steps several times before lunging/diving at us. He worked so hard he wore himself out and went to bed a little early tonight.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Top molars breaking through
Tonight Sam was crawling around with a toy coin in his mouth. At one point I saw a little stream of blood and grabbed a paper towel for his face while Will cleaned up the coin. It is a good thing I knew that he had a little blood pocket on his left upper molar otherwise we would have been trying to figure out what happened. I felt of his gums and both of his upper teeth have broken through with 1 very sharp point.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Putting things "in"
Sam has started putting toys into containers. He won't do it if you ask him to do it, but when he is playing by himself he will put something in once or twice a day.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Catching up
Sam is not one to sit and play with anything for very long. He normally has a very short attention span and has to get moving again. However, the other day he was playing with the piggy bank. He had it on its side with the door facing up and he was opening and shutting it. He thought that by doing this he was making it play music - but in reality his knee was touching the pig's nose which makes it play music. He was so enamored with himself that he just kept doing it and smiling. He played for 4-5 minutes which is a really long time for him.
When my mom was visiting Sam starting making a new noise. He was kind of yelling a big O sound when he was happy or excited about something that was happening. He is still making this noise and it is so very funny.
A few days ago I found a used Radio Flyer tiny trike. It is a really cute tricycle that you use your feet to move instead of pedals. I picked it up at night after the kids were in bed and I cleaned it up for the next day. The next morning I sat Sam on the trike and he took off across the floor and then when he was done he held onto the handlebars, stood up and walked backwards to get over the seat. Will and I were both impressed with this maneuver. He has ridden it several times since then and has even gotten off once by standing up and swinging one leg over to the other side.
Sam and Megan have "fought" over toys for some time now. Anytime Megan is playing with something Sam will crawl over to her and try to take it away from her. She generally takes it right back but Sam has gotten good about grabbing the toy and taking off away from her. A couple of days ago Megan was reading a book and Sam crawled over and took it away. The book passed back and forth between them several times before Sam decided to grab it and "run". He crawled about 4 feet away from Megan, turned his back to her and put the book in his lap. He would look down at the book and then over his shoulder to see if she was coming to get it from him. He repeated this, look at the book/look over his shoulder for Megan, every 5-6 seconds for a good minute or so. Megan was no longer interested in the book and had moved onto something else but it didn't keep him from making sure his stolen treasure was safe.
Last weekend after the kids had their afternoon snack I grabbed an apple for myself and sat on the couch to eat it. The kids were playing in the floor in the living room and it took Megan about 2 minutes to realize I was eating something. Once she realized it she came over to ask for a bite and when Sam saw that he joined her. They were both sitting at my feet looking up for a bite so I decided to give it a try. I offered the apple first to Megan and then to Sam. They both took bites out of it and chowed down on them. Together they finished the remaining 1/3 of my apple and loved every bite.
A couple of weeks ago we moved Sam up to a size 3 diaper. He is now wearing the same size as Megan. He is still a little too skinny for this size so you have to overlap the tabs, but he is consistently peeing through the smaller size so we had to do something. We are having to limit his liquids at night because even in the bigger size he is waking up wet 3-4 times a week.
Waving good-bye....I have been working with Sam to wave hi and good-bye. Last week he would mimic the motion that Will made when waving but he wouldn't do it if I waved at him (in a different way) or if you just said the words. Today Will and I had our first date in a long time because we finally found a new sitter. When it was time for her to leave I said to Sam "say bye-bye" and I waved like I normally do and Sam did his little wave, different from mine, to her. It was so cute. After she left I tried to get him to wave "hi" but he wouldn't do it and when I tried "bye-bye" again he did it once and then was done.
Sign language...we have taught Megan several words/phrases in sign language and are doing the same with Sam. He doesn't like it when you take his hand/arm and do the signs for him - he just tightens his arm; but we keep trying. This evening when it was time for dinner I did the sign for eat and Sam got all excited (he knows this sign and has responded to it for a couple of months) and when I said say "please" we think he signed please. He repeated the motion more than once so it looks like "please" may be Sam's first sign language - how polite of him.
When my mom was visiting Sam starting making a new noise. He was kind of yelling a big O sound when he was happy or excited about something that was happening. He is still making this noise and it is so very funny.
A few days ago I found a used Radio Flyer tiny trike. It is a really cute tricycle that you use your feet to move instead of pedals. I picked it up at night after the kids were in bed and I cleaned it up for the next day. The next morning I sat Sam on the trike and he took off across the floor and then when he was done he held onto the handlebars, stood up and walked backwards to get over the seat. Will and I were both impressed with this maneuver. He has ridden it several times since then and has even gotten off once by standing up and swinging one leg over to the other side.
Sam and Megan have "fought" over toys for some time now. Anytime Megan is playing with something Sam will crawl over to her and try to take it away from her. She generally takes it right back but Sam has gotten good about grabbing the toy and taking off away from her. A couple of days ago Megan was reading a book and Sam crawled over and took it away. The book passed back and forth between them several times before Sam decided to grab it and "run". He crawled about 4 feet away from Megan, turned his back to her and put the book in his lap. He would look down at the book and then over his shoulder to see if she was coming to get it from him. He repeated this, look at the book/look over his shoulder for Megan, every 5-6 seconds for a good minute or so. Megan was no longer interested in the book and had moved onto something else but it didn't keep him from making sure his stolen treasure was safe.
Last weekend after the kids had their afternoon snack I grabbed an apple for myself and sat on the couch to eat it. The kids were playing in the floor in the living room and it took Megan about 2 minutes to realize I was eating something. Once she realized it she came over to ask for a bite and when Sam saw that he joined her. They were both sitting at my feet looking up for a bite so I decided to give it a try. I offered the apple first to Megan and then to Sam. They both took bites out of it and chowed down on them. Together they finished the remaining 1/3 of my apple and loved every bite.
A couple of weeks ago we moved Sam up to a size 3 diaper. He is now wearing the same size as Megan. He is still a little too skinny for this size so you have to overlap the tabs, but he is consistently peeing through the smaller size so we had to do something. We are having to limit his liquids at night because even in the bigger size he is waking up wet 3-4 times a week.
Waving good-bye....I have been working with Sam to wave hi and good-bye. Last week he would mimic the motion that Will made when waving but he wouldn't do it if I waved at him (in a different way) or if you just said the words. Today Will and I had our first date in a long time because we finally found a new sitter. When it was time for her to leave I said to Sam "say bye-bye" and I waved like I normally do and Sam did his little wave, different from mine, to her. It was so cute. After she left I tried to get him to wave "hi" but he wouldn't do it and when I tried "bye-bye" again he did it once and then was done.
Sign language...we have taught Megan several words/phrases in sign language and are doing the same with Sam. He doesn't like it when you take his hand/arm and do the signs for him - he just tightens his arm; but we keep trying. This evening when it was time for dinner I did the sign for eat and Sam got all excited (he knows this sign and has responded to it for a couple of months) and when I said say "please" we think he signed please. He repeated the motion more than once so it looks like "please" may be Sam's first sign language - how polite of him.
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